- Susan Shentall, Romeo and Juliet, 1954. The British production had its roots in MGM’s 1952 idea: Brando and Angeli.
- Marisa Pavan, The Rose Tattoo, 1954. Finally Anna Magnani plays Serafina Delle Rose, the peasant widow written for her by Tennessee Williams – when she was not confident about acting on Broadway. Her English had greatly improved now and she won an Oscar. Marisa Pavan was also nominated as her nubile daughter, Rosa – originally intended for Marisa’s twin sister, the rather more fragile Pier Angeli.
- Elsa Cardenas, Giant, 1955.
- Debra Paget, The Ten Commandments, 1955. ”
- Leslie Caron, Gigi, 1958. No chance when a real French wonder turned up.
- Haya Harareet, Ben-Hur, 1958. Sword and sandal epics were in. And producer Sam Zimbalist, who’d made one of the biggest – Quo Vadis, 1950 – was back in Rome in charge of the re-make of the 1923 silent Ben-Hur, racing chariots and all. Sam even considered retaining his Vadis trio: Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Stewart Granger. However, the battle for Esther was between Italian Pier Angeli , Santa Barbara’s unknown Carolyn Craig, Finnish Taina Elg and Swiss Liselotte Pulver. Liselotte won but was contracted to Germany’s Gustav Adolfs Page. Enter: Israel’s Haya Harareet.
- Audrey Hepburn, Green Mansions, 1959. First bought by RKO for Dolores Del Rio 1932, WH Hudson’s novel about mystery jungle girl, Rima, landed at MGM in 1945 where no scripts satisfied MGM boss LB Mayer.In the summer of ‘54, director Vincent Minnelli began shooting Alan Jay Learner’s version with Angeli and Edmund Purdom. Producer Arthur Freed hated rushes and killed it.Having first read it at Princeton, actor Mel Ferrer felt he had actually wed Rima -“figure and features were singularly delicate”- and directed her in it. Very. Badly.
- Leticia Román, GI Blues, 1960. Welcome home Elvis! And here’s your reward for serving your country ifor two years in the US Army’s 3rd Armored Division.. 1: Román beating fellow Italians Anna-Maria Alberghetti and Pier Angeli to the zero role of Tina ) and 2: All your movies will suck from hereon!
- Natalie Wood, West Side Story, 1961. Excellent thinking, but soon enough as her sister’s star rose in Hollywood, as Angeli returned to Italy, a shadow of her teenage self, under her full name, Anna-Maria Pierangeli, and often, very little else, clothes-wise.
- Louis De Funès, La Grande Vadrouille, France-UK, 1966. The huge French comedy classic – about top movie clowns De Funes and Bourvil in WW11 – actually started out as an idea for dancer Zizi Jeanmaire (or Pier Angeli and twin sister Marisa Pavan) as twins: pious Lili and hooker Lulu. The partnership with the UK’s Rank Organisation was essential to securing the pricey Terry-Thomas as Big-Moustache of the RAF. Film closed in London in a matter of days (or hours?) but was the #1 French box-office hit for 42 years! There is simply no way of understanding the French.
Birth year: 1932Death year: 1971Other name: Casting Calls: 10